STACK #156 Oct 2017

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile Lotta Sea Lice Trying to pull apart which is Barnett and which is Vile on this record is impossible. Those with ears more tuned to Barnett’s songwriting might hear the opening bars of first track Over Everything and expect Barnett’s drawl to come first, and feel curveballed when it’s Vile’s. Their winding, staggering melodies complement each other perfectly, as if they’d grown together as much as into each other. It’s an unfussy and unpretentious guitar record from two of the world’s least fussy and pretentious guitarists, and a showcase of their greatest combined strengths.

British India Forgetting The Future

Are British India Australia’s most underrated band? The group have a remarkable story. Four school friends start a band; 13 years later, they release their sixth album after four top 10 albums in a row. They’re quiet achievers, though their sound is big (check out first single Precious , and Take Me With You , a hit waiting to happen). Hooking up with producer Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy) sees them embracing some electro sounds, but they still rock. Their sound has always been one of manic momentum and they’ve never lost their youthful exuberance. Yep, British India are forgetting the future and living in the now – and it sounds mighty fine. (Liberation) Jeff Jenkins

Ecca Vandal Ecca Vandal This is no ordinary record: it’s a territorial claim. If the bloodthirsty agit-punker rage drenching Ecca Vandal ’s opening three tracks set the prevailing tone, your speakers would still be dust. But it’s so bold, assured, and musically literate, that genre means nothing. Opener Your Way speaks volumes: rhythm, dissonance and voice. Broke Days, Party Nights

features the greatest scream in music since Bon Scott mugged bagpipers in Swanston St, while The Price of Living sees Vandal going toe-to-toe with Refused legend Dennis Lyxen. Largely co-written with producer Kidnot, there are no easily-ticked boxes on this 12-track missile from the Sri Lankan (South African raised/Melbourne domiciled) performer. All music is up for grabs, and her vocal chops star throughout. Future Heroine channels nasty trip hop – even ragamuffin in places. Cassettes, Lies and Videotape is the fulcrum, a sky-high showcase of Vandal’s muscular flow, an effortlessly contemporary screed of complaint against a 24/7 world. Elsewhere, Your Orbit ’s intergalactic nu-soul (with Sampa the Great) proves irresistible, before Cold of the World (cue: lovesick lone wolf drives into sunset) essays an anthemic peak. Ecca Vandal is that rare artist imbued with an unwavering conviction, born of an intimate knowledge of complex self-reality. Procure this soulful riot, play hard, play again. (Dew Process/Universal) Jonathan Alley

(Milk! Records/Matador Records) Jake Cleland

Crepes Channel Four Melbourne quintet Crepes have been a fixture of the local music scene since 2014, but it’s only now with the release of Channel Four that we finally get to hear their first full length album. It contains some truly great musical moments: opening track 9-5 Summer Breakers features a gloriously sunny piano, while the expansive Four Years Time introduces a dreamy synth into the mix. Getting Lost conjures the hazy psychedelic instrumentation of the '60s, and Sexyland and I’m Fallin’ In are buoyant numbers that capture the cheek and wit of music being made today. Overall, Channel Four is a glimmering beam of hope in indie music that will no doubt see Crepes become another success story both in Australia and internationally. (Spunk) Holly Pereira

Winston Surfshirt Sponge Cake

Cults Offering

Cut Copy Haiku From Zero

Sydney six-piece Winston Surfshirt sound way more seasoned than they should on their debut; they do use synths to create atmospheric texture, but it's also the warmth and cuddle of unflappable horns around squidgy bass, creaky raps and ruminative vocal melodies, delivered with a keep-on-truckin’ stride. Sometimes the beats are wonky and weird with breathy raps sitting back on the beat. Elsewhere you get a jazzy Rhodes doing space-faced trundles up the keyboard, aerial Prince-like vocals, nonchalant deep trombone, and vibraphone that sounds like bright boiled candies falling into a dish, all laid against J Dilla-esque beats. Marvellous stuff from the

NewYork’s finest synth pop duo Cults return with Offering , a richly textured album that serves as an important step forward. Across 11 tracks, each musical moment is executed to be a stunning reveal, leaving the listener savouring each instrumental flourish. With My Eyes Closed is a wonderfully hypnotic early highlight; Right Words will leave you swooning over Madeline Follins’ layered vocals. Good Religion is carried by a myriad of synths while Natural State is paced in order to accentuate a stunning apex. Above all, Cults have maintained their magic and once again have delivered an astonishing album. (Sinderlyn/Remote Control) Holly Pereira

Will the second half of 2017 be defined by albums about information overload? With Arcade Fire’s Everything Now , LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream , and now Cut Copy’s Haiku From Zero , the data frenzy of modernity is back on people’s minds. Singer Dan Whitford celebrates the blitz, saying “There’s a weird random beauty in it,” and the record backs that idea. Featuring fewer straightforward hits than previous albums, Haiku From Zero is busier but more sumptuous, carrying the torch for big moments. What DeBord would say about these spectacular albums about spectacle, who knows, but Haiku From Zero has a delicious grasp of the irony. (Astralwerks/EMI) Jake Cleland

BIGSOUND stand-outs. (Sweat It Out!/Warner) Zoë Radas

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